Make Minisites Make Money!

I recently listened to a teleconference call with Alice Seba, wahm extraordinaire, and Jim Edwards, minisite expert, who has created an awesome living online with minisites. I thought I would pass along my notes if you missed the call. (Or if you just prefer to read stuff like I do! It's usually noisy in my house.)

First of all, what IS a minisite?

It's a 1-5 page site that forces visitor to "make a choice!"

You've probably seen many minisites before. The choices are limited and there may be few or no links going out, except the one that encourages the visitor to buy/not buy, subscribe/not subscribe etc.

Minisites have 3 main purposes:

1) To get subscribers to sign up for newsletter, mini course, or special report.

Many experts in internet marketing believe that success requires a responsive mailing list that you have good relationship with. A minisite whose only goal is to urge the visitor to opt in to your list has a much higher conversion rate than simply asking someone to sign up for your newsletter/free course etc. on a page of your main site.

2) To make a sale

Either of your own product (as a secondary purpose- try to snag a newsletter subscriber) or an affiliate product.

3) Make referrals to affiliate links- the "affiliate showcase"

So again, what differentiates a minisite from a larger site is that a minisite has only ONE primary purpose.

Sales professionals have a saying: "A confused mind always answers no in a sales situation." By limiting your visitor's choices, you are more likely to get them to do what you want them to do.

Stop trying to be all things to all people!

--> So what is the difference between a blog and a minisite?

The purpose of blog is to create relationships/dialogue with your visitors.

Before creating a minisite, ask yourself:
What is my purpose in creating a minisite?

Is it to:

1) Sell something
2) Newsletter/special report site
3) Affiliate showcase ~ That's fine, but get the visitor to opt in to your list FIRST. Use the "Bribe to subscribe"... offer a free report, ebook etc. with your affilate link on the thank you or confirmation page.

Another important purpose in creating minisites:

4) Intelligence gathering ~ This refers to using a survey to get opinions from your visitor. Also called a "Flycatcher" page.
Get your visitors to tell you what you need to know in order to sell them something later.

In other words, let's say you wanted to create an infoproduct on "how to remove carpet stains". You could create a survey that asks people how THEY get stains out of their carpets, or ask them what questions or problems they have with that issue. Then when you have gathered lots of responses, answer those questions effectively and you have your infoproduct!

To make money online you need:

Targeted traffic.
A way to convert that traffic to sales.

Successful minisite tips:

Test and track every aspect of your sales letter!
The headline is the most important part typically. You need a big, bold benefit driven headline. Change it and track your results.

You also need:
Benefits and bullet statements.
A strong call to action.
Words like "Click here to buy now" or
"Click here to subscribe" etc.

Minisites are quicker to get online and are very cost effective. I hope these tips help you learn how to make money with minisites. Click here for more on How to Make Money with Minisites: Make Major Profits With Minisites